So many months ago I ordered two grilles for my Tbird from Rockauto.
Turns out they dont fit at all, none of them.
The "chrome" is pitted on both of them, they dont fit and they are the wrong proportions by FAR. Its not even close.
I let the pictures speak for themselves.
The box
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_151734_zps3b276afd.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_151734_zps3b276afd.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154806_zps45d187af.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154806_zps45d187af.jpg.html)
My oem grille from the car and one of those from Rockauto.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_151824_zps0a7e120b.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_151824_zps0a7e120b.jpg.html)
Stock grille fitment, flush and nice
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_153837_zps7f53707f.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_153837_zps7f53707f.jpg.html)
Rockauto piece of as far in as I could get it. Both was like this
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_153802_zpsef7a2a59.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_153802_zpsef7a2a59.jpg.html)
OEM and china
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154011_zps4c7eecf9.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154011_zps4c7eecf9.jpg.html)
Lets measure the beak.
Oem
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154132_zpsf469f08f.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154132_zpsf469f08f.jpg.html)
Rockauto. Uhm...? Both was the same
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154150_zps92a4bcbc.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154150_zps92a4bcbc.jpg.html)
Pitting
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154233_zps27415bf7.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154233_zps27415bf7.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154826_zps9f5e6cef.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154826_zps9f5e6cef.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154835_zps9e34d8e0.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154835_zps9e34d8e0.jpg.html)
Backside of OEM
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154908_zpsf8e4cc7f.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154908_zpsf8e4cc7f.jpg.html)
Rockautos.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154853_zpse61ce7ef.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_154853_zpse61ce7ef.jpg.html)
shag off both of you
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_155321_zps3641f06c.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/20140226_155321_zps3641f06c.jpg.html)
The item on Rockauto
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/CraxIgorE/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/Screenshot1_zps8f5dc532.png) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/CraxIgorE/media/1988%20Ford%20Thunderbird/Screenshot1_zps8f5dc532.png.html)
Being that they are plastic, perhaps that is just how the things have aged in a warehouse?
Shouldn't they shrink inwards rather than outwards then?
I dont know but all in all, they are useless...
Were the Rockauto grilles in Ford boxes??? I'm assuming they were based on the pictures. I notice the mfg date on the one box is 1999, 12 years after the original grille was made and installed at the factory. Also made in Canada, not China.
Very possible these grilles were made by a different mfg and possible the tooling is old.
Don't think you can blame Rockauto for this.
I've had the same experience w/ NOS parts not fitting as the original piece.
No way you can modify it to make it work?
Deviation on the label means these were rejected by Ford and sent back to mfgr. Don't know how Rock got them.
I wondered about that....never saw that before on a NOS part. Perhaps a refund would be due if Rockauto was notified about this?
The issue as i understand with the buyer, is he is located in Sweden, and even if they take them back he will be out over $70 in shipping. Rock Auto needs to do the right thing and either get him parts that fit correctly regardless of how or why they don't fit, or refund him 100% of his money including shipping if they cannot. I don't know how far he has dove into this with Rock Auto, but i know a lot of people on a number of different forums are looking to see what they do here.
Yeah, now that I'm back home and can see the pictures better, I agree that something else is up. No idea about the '99 date.
Warpage like that just can't happen outside of extreme cirspoogestances. After all, they don't distort in weird ways on cars in the summer sun, and it isn't like they are fastened down in any way to prevent warping.
The "deviation" was something I never really understood, maybe it is as you say parts that failed quality control.
I myself dont believe in that they have warped, both are the same down to the millimeter. More like the molding they used is wrong.
And 1999 date I did not see either. How long do Ford usually make spare parts for their cars?
They're not warped. They're production error. Ford (and most other OEMs) will typically make parts for 8 years, although they'll usually make crash parts much longer.